What things hold you back from doing the things that you really want to?

[LightSun]

What things hold you back from doing the things that you really want to? What makes us a self-prisoner? This is to say how do we imprison ourselves in our lives?

Quote: "Why do you stay in prison when the door is so wide open? Move outside the tangle of fear-thinking. Out beyond ideas of wrong-doing and right-doing, there is a field. I will meet you there.” Rumi

Quote: "The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek." Joseph Campbell

Quote: "Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds." Franklin D. Roosevelt

Quote: "To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you." Lewis B. Smedes

 

[hav]

The internet.

 

[Yuurei]

Physical limiations. I'm not a complicated person, I just want the same oppertunities " normal" people have.

You win this one random circumstance!

 

[Lark]

What holds me back?

Well, being powerless and penniless about covers it.

 

[Jaguar]

What holds me back?

Well, being powerless and penniless about covers it.

Powerless, my ass. That kind of talk won't fly in my universe.

 

[thepink-cloakedninja]

Nothing. I can't do everything yet, but I have it planned out so I'll be able to soonish.

 

[Lark]

Powerless, my ass. That kind of talk won't fly in my universe.

Good luck, your universe is different to mine.

 

[Jaguar]

Good luck, your universe is different to mine.

Change it. You have the power.

 

[Lark]

Change it. You have the power.

 

[Lucy_Ricardo]

The answer to this question is fluid. Sometimes I think I'm the only thing standing in my way. Other times, I think I'm a victim of circumstance. Really, it's a combination of the two.

For example, I'd love to go to New Zealand. It's a lifelong dream of mine. But that costs money I don't have and time I can't afford. If I worked hard and saved, I could probably afford the trip in two years. But I don't want to go by myself, and I don't know anyone who'd be willing to make a commitment to scrimp and save for the trip like I'm willing to.

So what's holding me back from the trip? Myself for not wanting to go alone, and others for not wanting to go with me. Self and circumstance.

 

[Red Memories]

The fact there is so many things I want to do, and I try them all at once, overwhelm myself, and end up crying and dropping everything usually.

 

[Agent Washington]

Money

 

[Smilephantomhive]

Fear, and sometimes the feeling that nothing matters. This is why I try to fight nihilism with every chance I get.

 

[Ashtart]

If I really want something, hardly anything can hold me back.

 

[Cellmold]

Myself and money. In fact the one definitely ties into the other.

 

[MyCupOfTea]

Choices that I've made before which have led to my current responsibilities and life situation.

 

[tinker683]

My own timidness and fear

 

[Larix]

This is a huge, life-guiding question because inhibition has tended to be my self-image.

There's this system that emerges:
-I think of myself as being fundamentally ill-equipped to do anything well.
-I feel like my expectations are way higher than what the potential reality can deliver.
-I feel like I'm not "ready" yet (I haven't examined the opportunity from enough angles to know if it's even possible).
-I don't feel motivated to do anything unless I'm wasting time on self-indulgent nonsense or someone else wants me to do it.

Things I haven't done yet for the above reasons:
-Dated someone.
-Traveled somewhere I actually chose to go on my own.
-Created artwork to sell.
-Published my writing.

I'm working on the last one, though. I've been actively writing on my own for the first time in years.

Also, I went to University only because I decided I had nothing to lose if I failed, since I had saved enough money to pay for my first year, I analyzed enough angles to decide if it was possible, and my sister really wanted me to go.

Eventually I do things, but it takes a while to get there! In order to take better initiative at this stage in my life, I'm trying to hold on to a sense of adventure, not overthink every decision by trying things I know I'll suck at, and decide what I actually want separate from other people. So far it's been a bit lonely, because I've been taking a lot more risks lately, but so far the only way I have the courage to act on my desires is to go solo. Maybe one day I'll invite someone else along for the ride, but not yet.